1. Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure relates to a slide switch device used for a power seat switch etc. that electrically operates a lumber support embedded in a vehicle seat.
2. Description of the Related Art
With a slide switch device used for a power seat switch etc. of an automobile, when a user operates an operation knob of in a desirable direction, a slider that moves in association with the operation knob performs a switching operation on a contact of a switch element, and a tactile feel that is generated by a tactile-feel generation mechanism is fed back to the user. Conventional slide switch devices that include the tactile feel generation mechanism have a tactile-feel adjustment tool that is fitted and fixed to a guide base with a slider mounted, the slider has a shaft portion integrated with an operation knob, a coil spring and a ball are housed and held directly below the shaft portion, and the ball is pressed to a cam groove of the tactile-feel adjustment tool by an elastic force of the coil spring (for example, see Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2010-251028). The slider has a plurality of legs that engage with a driving portion of a switch element, and the legs pinch the tactile-feel adjustment tool in the thickness direction. Accordingly, if the operation knob is operated and the slider slides on the guide base, the ball slides in the cam groove of the tactile-feel adjustment tool and the tactile feel is generated, and rattling of the slider in the thickness direction of the tactile-feel adjustment tool is reduced.
The slide switch device of the related art disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2010-251028 reduces rattling of the slider in the thickness direction of the tactile-feel adjustment tool because the plurality of legs provided at the slider pinch the tactile-feel adjustment tool in the thickness direction. However, if the pinching force of the legs is excessively strong, a sliding resistance between the legs and the tactile-feel adjustment tool excessively increases, and the slider cannot be operated to smoothly slide. Hence, the legs have to contact the tactile-feel adjustment tool by a relatively small pinching force. In this case, when the ball at an initial position is pressed to a valley portion of the cam groove, the slider can be held in a state with small rattling. However, when the slider at the initial position is operated to slide and the ball is separated from the valley portion of the cam groove, the slider likely rattles in the sliding direction. In particular, if the slider can be operated to slide in multiple directions including two directions being orthogonal to each other, rattling likely occurs during the sliding operation of the slider. An operation feel may markedly deteriorate.
These and other drawbacks exist.